An Introduction to the Argumentative Essay on the Topic of Western Medicine
In a world with millions of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, complementary and alternative medicine has taken a back seat to western science. While some argue that western medicine is safer and more effective, others choose to side with the time- proven ideas of eastern medicine. Western medicine offers the comfort of having chemically synthesized and regulated drugs but the concentrated doses of potentially harmful drugs are often abused. Eastern medicine provides more natural treatment for common ailments, but falls short when more medically momentous problems come about. Although modern medicine helps cure serious illness, alternative medicine is more natural, far safer and is a time proven way of life.
Contemporary scientists frown upon complementary and alternative medicine, saying that it is nothing more than a placebo effect. Eastern medicine is effective in practice, but has little to no medical backing, “...unproven folkloric remedies are far from standardized or regulated" (Pearson). Moreover, some go so far as to say that eastern medicine is not real medicine at all, "Alternative therapies have no benefit beyond the placebo effect and should therefore not be treated as legitimate medicine" (Issitt). Western medicine is an easy "one size fits all" fix to a problem, but does not cater to individuals and their needs.
The definition of illness has vastly expanded since western medicine has come about. People have not always been so medically needy, "Doctors used to be consulted when there was obviously something wrong, when one felt ill" (Bauer). Now that there is a solution to every problem people might have, they are trying to fix something that is not broken, "Normal conditions are redefined as illness” (Bauer). Media tells society that normal things that happen to peoples bodies should not be happening. People have this perception that normal bodily functions are bad. For example, menopause is defined as a problem whose effects should be eliminated (Bauer). Alternatively, eastern medicine uses less harsh herbs and natural remedies, and is only called upon when there is illness.
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Prescription and over-the-counter drugs are frequently abused and used for other purposes than the drugs are intended for. People who were given drugs like OxyContinR often end up becoming addicted to the drug. Over time, they may end up moving to other, cheaper street drugs like heroine, "Once a prescription medication is in your medicine cabinet, it could become a temptation for abuse" (French). People's demand for prescription drugs has also increased dramatically in the past years.
In fact, the number of drug users that use someone else's prescription drugs has increased from 8% in 2008 to 30% in 2011 (Georgina). Even over- the counter drugs are often abused. Ephedrine, one of the chemicals used to produce methamphetamine (whose street name is meth) was cut out of over-the-counter drugs. However, other chemicals related to ephedrine are still in cold medication, “The cooks switched to a related compound, pseudoephedrine" (Jefferson). By eliminating people's easy access to prescription and over-the-counter drugs, we eliminate the ease in which these drugs are abused.
Eastern medicine is a time- proven way of life. As early medicine evolved, different peoples came up with different medical techniques that fit within their social constructs, "Each culture developed herbal and contact-based therapies in keeping with their individual philosophy, religious beliefs, and cultural norms" (Issitt). While alternative medicine is not always understood as far as their physiological effects, the practice of therapeutic medicine is a much more comfortable and welcoming environment than that of western medicine, "Modern scientific medicine is expensive, sometimes very invasive and its practitioners are not always skilled in communication with their own patients" (Pearson). This may be in part to the fact that eastern medicine is a more all- encompassing practice than that of its western counter- part.
Chinese medicine, for example, views the human as a whole and sickness as a disharmony in his whole. Chinese medicine treats each case individually, and does not use the "one size fits all" idea that western medicine uses (Issitt). Eastern medicine caters to each individual and is an ideal medical practice for those who prefer a more culturally influenced way of life.
Alternative medicine, while viewed as a placebo affect by many, is a time proven way of life. Unlike western medicine, it is therapeutic and spiritual. Products of western medicine are often abused, and having high concentrations of chemicals available for the public is not safe. Western medicine also tries to offer a fix to happenings that are completely natural and are a part of life. Although perhaps alternative medicine does not address medical needs as fully as western medicine, people should use alternative medicine, as it is a safer and more individualized practice.
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An Introduction to the Argumentative Essay on the Topic of Western Medicine. (2023, Mar 23). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/an-introduction-to-the-argumentative-essay-on-the-topic-of-western-medicine/
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